President Michael D Higgins has led tributes after the death of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI at the age of 95.
The Vatican has confirmed the news that the German native died this morning at 9.34am.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign when he did so in 2013 and was replaced by Pope Francis.
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A statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said: "With pain I inform that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be released as soon as possible."
Last night, Bruni said the former Pontiff was well enough to take mass in his room, just hours before he passed away.
He was said to have been in a stable condition.
"Last night the Pope Emeritus was able to rest well," Bruni said in a statement. "He also participated in the celebration of Holy Mass in his room yesterday afternoon. At present his condition is stationary."
In tribute, Irish President Michael D Higgins said: “It is with sadness that Catholics around the world will have learned of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
"At this time of the return of war on our continent and in so many areas of the world, he will be remembered for his untiring efforts to find a common path in promoting peace and goodwill throughout the world, including a steadfast interest in peace in Northern Ireland.
"He will be remembered too for the value he attached to intellectual work and for the personal commitment he gave to such within the Roman Catholic Church, this work being respected by both supporters and critics.
"Of particular importance was that during his tenure, Pope Benedict sought to highlight both the common purpose of the world’s major religions and his injunctions as to how our individual responsibilities as citizens require the highest standards of ethics in our actions.
"May I extend my condolences to his family, to Pope Francis, to Archbishop Eamon Martin, to his friends and colleagues, and to all members of the Catholic faith both in Ireland and across the world.”
News of Benedict's death came after his successor Pope Francis announced that Benedict was "very sick", calling on his audience to pray for him on Wednesday.
Pope Francis surprised followers with the appeal as he finished his general audience at the Vatican, providing no further details.
The rapid deterioration of Benedict's health was also confirmed by spokesman Bruni shortly after Francis's announcement.
He said: “Regarding the health conditions of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis asked for prayers at the end of his general audience this morning, I can confirm that in the last hours, a worsening due to advanced age has happened.
“The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly monitored by doctors.”
Pope Benedict XVI, originally called Joseph Alois Ratzinger, was born in Germany to a policeman father and a hotel cook mother.
As a teenager he was drafted into the army, although he has claimed that he never took part in combat or fired a shot.
After the war he continued his education in a seminary, having had a desire to enter the priesthood at an early age.
In June 1951 he was ordained as a priest and began a career in academia, teaching theology at universities in Germany.
He was elected on April 19, 2005 at the age of 78 - the oldest to have done so since Pope Clement XII 1730.
Pope Benedict XVI, who was 95 at the time of his death, was the head of the Catholic Church between April 2005 and February 2013.
He resigned from the post aged 85 in 2013, making him the first to quit in 600 years. He resigned from the Church's top spot, saying his old age had limited his abilities to carry out his sacred duties.
Benedict had lived since his resignation in a monastery on the grounds of the Vatican.
The former pontiff had suffered bad health in the years leading up to his death - in 2020 there were reports of the pope having become seriously ill with shingles with reports he could "barely speak".
At that time, Benedict fell ill after returning to the Vatican from Germany where he visited his sick brother in that year.
Benedict went to his native Bavaria to pay his brother Georg Ratzinger a final visit.
Georg, aged 96, died shortly afterwards.
It was Benedict's first trip outside Italy since 2013, the year he resigned the papacy.
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